Warp-creel.



PATENTED DEC. 20, 1904.

G. OROSSLAND.

WARP GREEL. APPLICATION FILED. APR. 7. 1900.

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No. 777,845; PATENTED DEC. 20, 1904.

G. CRO'SSLAND.

WARP ORBEL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7, 1900. N0 MODEL.

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:115: I 4 06 lib/E1110? No. 777,845. PATENTED DEC. 20, 1904.

G. OROSSLAND.

WARP GREEL.

APPLICATION FILED APR.7, 1900. N0 MODEL. 3SHBETS-SHEET a.

umnumnmmnnnmmmm l llllllllllllllllllllll XX IHCQEESEE UNITED STATES Patented December 20, 1904.

PATENT OEEIcE.

WARP-CREEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 777,845, dated December 20, 1904. Application filed April 7, 1900. Serial No 12,020.

To all 707L077 it natty concern:

Be it known that I. GEORGE GRossLAND, of Watertown, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Warp-Creels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in weaving-creels for a loom or other textile machine used to hold the bobbins from which the threads or cords are supplied to form the warp of the fabric being woven.

It has for its objects to provide a construction which will be compact, simple, easy to inspect and to repair the threads or to renew a bobbin when exhausted, and whereby a constant and uniform tension will be applied to each of the threads of the warp, but whereby the tension on each thread is entirely inclependent of any of the other threads.

The invention consists of the novel constructions,arrangements,and combinations of parts which will be fully described hereinafter and set forth in the claims, and it is carried out substantially as illustrated on the accompanying drawings, forming an essential part of this specification, and whereon Figure 1 represents a sectional plan view of a sufiicient portion of a weaving-creel made in accordance with my invention to illustrate its construction and showing various parts of the creel in horizontal sections through said parts at various heights. Fig. 2 represents a cross-section on thelineABin Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a side elevation of such a portion of the creel as will show its construction, the remaining portion being substantially a duplication of that shown in said Fig. 3. Figs. 4 and 5 represent detailed views of a single bobbin and the parts of the creel which are used or controlled by said bobbin. Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 represent side elevations and cross-sections of modified forms of the spool used in the tension-producing mechanism, Fig. 11 also representing my device when using springs to produce the desired tension of the warp-threads. Fig. 12 represents a detailed view of a modified form of that part of my invention whereby a tension is produced upon the warp-threads.

Like characters'of reference refer to like parts wherever they occur on the difierent parts of the drawings. 7

The creel consists of a rod or bar'l, supported at each end upon a suitable standard 2, which is preferably made adjustable in height in any common and well-known manner, the bar being preferably detachably attached to said standards in any suitable manner. On the drawings I have shown but one end of the bar 1 and but one of the standards which support it.

Upon the bar 1 are adjustably mounted a series of blocks 3 3, which are held in their adjusted positions by means of set-screws 4 4 or by equivalentand welhknown means. Any number of blocks 3 3 are placed side by side upon the bar 1, according to the number of different threads which are desired to be used in the warp of the fabric to be woven, as will be understood by a further description of the device. The blocks 3 3 are arranged to hang vertically on said bar and are each provided with a rod or bar 5 at the top and bottom of said block, which rods extend through said block and are preferably arranged one directly above the other, and so that they project at right angles to the bar 1, substantially as shown in Fig. 1. It will thus be seen that there is a pair of rods 5 5 attached to each block 3. Each pair of rods is held parallel by stays or braces 6 6, extending between the rods near their ends and riveted or otherwise attached thereto. Thus there is a series of pairs of rods 5 5 projecting on each side of the bar 1.

It will be understood that the blocks 3 might be dispensed with and the rods 5 be inserted through the bar 1, which would slightly beincreased in depth to contain said rods; but I prefer to use the blocks, as they are easily placed upon the bar 1 or removed therefrom, as desired.

The bar 1 is intended to be'arranged so as to extend backward from the loom at right angles to the line of the harness or heddles of the loom, and consequently the rods 5 5 will be parallel to said harness or heddles.

Upon each pair of rods 5 5, and preferably on opposite sides of the bar 1, I mount what I term a drawer, which is constructed as follows, (and I shall describe but one of said drawers herein, there being preferably double as many drawers in the creel as there are blocks 3 on the bar 1, each drawer being a duplicate of the others:)

Two end frames 7 7 are mounted upon the pair of rods 5 5 on one side of the bar 1, they being provided with perforations through which the rods pass. One of the frames 7 is located against or very nearthe block 3, and I term it the inner end frame, while the other frame 7 is located upon the outer ends of the rods 5, outside of the brace 6, it being held upon said rods by means of notches or recesses 8, cut in the upper surface of the rods and into which the outer frame drops,

or they may be retained in any other suitable and well-known manner. The end frames are held at a given distance from each other and are coupled together in that position by means of the upper stay-rods 9 9 and the lower stayrods 10 10, substantially as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Two bobbin racks or supports 11 11 extend between the end frames, near the lower ends of the frames, which racks are provided upon their upper surfaces with a series of recesses 12 12 to receive the lower ends of the spindles 13 13 of the bobbins which supply the warp-threads and which are thus supported in avertical position by said racks. Upon the spindles 13 13 are placed the cops 14 14 of the bobbin, as usual. The bobbins are thus arranged in two parallel rows upon the drawer of the creel, and consequently occupy as little space as possible.

Upon the upper stay-rods 9 9 are loosely mounted the tension-spools 15 15, the number of spools on each rod being governed by the number of bobbins on the rack 11, which is directly under that rod, there being a tensionspool on the rod for each bobbin on the rack. Each of the tension-spools is preferably provided with two annular grooves 16 and 17, sub stantially as shown in Fig. 4, the former being to receive the warp-thread 18in its path from the bobbin to the loom, while the latter is to receive the thread or cord 19, attached-at one end to the spool and having a weight or lingo '20 attached to its opposite end. It is not essential that the spools should have the groove 16 for the warp-thread, as said thread is attached at each end and to the spool, as hereinafter set forth, and does not necessarily require a guiding-groove to hold it upon the spool, and I have shown a spool without the groove 16 in Fig. 10 of the drawings; but the use of the guiding-groove is deemed to be preferable. The weight 20 is preferably made in the form of a wire or rod for the purpose of economy in the space required for the same, and it is guided in its movement hereinafter described by passing it through a perforation in the bobbin-rack 11.

From the above it will be seen that there is a tension-spool with an attached weight for each and every bobbin used on the creel.

Each of the tension-spools is provided with aneye 21, which is located in the groove 16 when said groove is used, and the warpthread passes through said eye. This eye performs a very important element in the production of the tens-ion on the warp-threads carried on the tension-spool. The eye 21 may be constructed in various ways, and I have shown some of the different constructions on the drawings, the preferred form being clearly illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, and it consists of a transverscd perforation through the spool in a plane with the grooves 16. In Figs. 6 and 7 the eye has been shown as a screw-eye or staple 22, driven into the tensionspool within the groove 16. In Figs. 8 and 9 the eye has been shown as a spring 23, placed within the groove 16 and under which the warp-thread passes, this spring in itself acting to cause a tension on the warp-thread independent to that produced by the weight, as hereinafter described, and which will act to reduce the necessary turns of the warp thread 18 upon the spool in order to obtain the desired tension on said thread, as the tension of the spring will act to produce the friction on the thread 18 which would otherwise be produced by additional turns of said thread on the spool hereinafter to be fully described.

The end frames of the drawer are provided at their upper ends with a guide 24, which extends between said frames and over which the warp-threads are carried from the tension-spools in their course to the loom. This guide is preferably made in the form of a thin strip of metal, as shown on the drawings.

The operation of threading a warp-thread on my improved creel is substantially as follows: The bobbin containingthe desired thread is placed in one of the recesses 12 on the bobbin-rack 11. The tension-spool, which is directly above the bobbin, is then rotated on the rod 9, causing the attached cord 19 to be wound upon the spool within the groove 17 and the weight 20 to be raised and to move upward in its bearing in the rack 11. The tensionspool is rotated in this manner until the desired amount of the cord 19 has been wound and the weight raised suificiently. The tension-spool is then held in this position and the end of the warp-thread is threaded through the eye 21 of the spool in such a direction that the influence of the weight upon the spool will rotate the spool and at once begin to wind the warp-thread upon the spool within the groove in the same direction from both ends of the eye 21. The spool is then released and the influence of the weight causes the warp-thread to be wound upon the spool, as above described, until the weighthas entirely unwound the cord 19 from the spool. The end of the warp-thread is then carried over the guide 24 to the loom and is drawn until the desired tension is on the thread, which tension will be the influence of the weight upon the spool. The drawing of the thread 18 forward will tend to unwind it at both ends from the spool and at the same time will tend to wind the thread 19 upon the spool, so as to raise the weight.

The operation of letting off the thread 18 through this tension device as it is used by the loom is as follows: The thread 18 is unwound from the spool and the weight is raised thereby as the thread is used by the loom and in a manner as above described until the turns of the thread 18 in the groove 16 have been reduced, so that the friction of the remaining turns, in addition to the friction of the thread in the eye 21, will equal the influence of the weight upon the spool, tending to turn the spool in an opposite direction. If more thread is used, it.will tend to reduce the friction of said thread on the spool and in the eye 21, and as the influence of the weight on the spool remains uniform it will be seen that this influence of the weight will finally overcome the friction of the thread and will cause the spool to rotate in the opposite direction, allowing the thread 18 to slip upon the surface of the groove 16 and through the eye 21, thus drawing thread from the bobbin and through the tension-spool. By this means it will be seen that after the loom has drawn the thread 18 from the tension-spool until the resistance due to the friction of the thread on the tensionspool and in the eyeis equal to the influence of the weight on said spool the thread 18 will be continually drawn through the tensionspool as used and with auniform tension thereon equal to the influence of the weight on the tension-spool. This lessens the liability of breakage of the thread 18 and causes the weaving of more perfect fabric than is the case when the tension on the warp-thread is not uniform and even.

In order to prevent the warp-threads from one of the drawers of the creel from coming into contact with those from the neXt drawer in the series of drawers, I prefer to arrange the supporting-bar 1 so that it will incline slightly, substantially as shown in Fig. 3, the lowest end of the bar being nearest to the loom, and by this means the warp-threads from the guides 24 of each drawer of bobbins are separated more than they would be if the bar 1 were level.

In order to make it easy to inspect and to repair or replace any of the warp-threads supplied from the bobbins carried on the bobbindrawers, 1 have so constructed these bobbindrawers that any one may be drawn out sidewise from the creelto the position as shown in Fig. 1. This I accomplish by mounting the end frames 7 upon the rods 5 so that they can move longitudinally on said rods and having the outer end frame detachably held upon said rods within the notches 8 when the drawer is in working position- The inner end frame 7 is prevented from being drawn entirely from the rod 5 by means of the stayrod or brace 6. By drawing the drawer to one side in this manner I am able to inspect the bobbins on either rack 11 of the drawer and can easily replace or repair any needing it.

It will be seen that my improved creel is very compact, easily kept in order and repaired, and causes the warp-threads to be drawn to the loom with a uniform tension thereon.

My improved creel is applicable to any loom requiring an individual, independent, differential let-off device for each of the threads of the warp used, and it is particularly adapted to looms using a series of varied-colored warps and for weaving figured pile fabrics; but it may be used on looms having a single-colored warp.

Thus far I have described my tension device as being controlled by the influence of weights or lingoes 20; but it will be understood that I may use springs in the place of the weights, and a detailed view of such a construction has been shown in Fig. 11. In Fig. 11 the spring 25 has one end attached to the cord 19 and the other end attached to some stationary part of the machine-as, for instance, to the racks 11. The tension-spool is preferably provided with the helical groove 26 for the cord 19, arranged with a decreasing radius to come into contact with the cord 19 as said cord is wound upon the spool, so as to decrease the leverage as the power of the spring increases by being extended.

In Fig. 12 I have illustrated another method of producing a friction on the tension-spools tending to cause a tension on the warp-threads carried by the spools, which consists of attaching the cord 19 at one end to the bar 27 or to other stationary parts of, the machine, the opposite end of the cord being attached to a weight 20 or to a spring, as desired. A friction-shoe 28, consisting of a strap or band lined with suitable friction-producing material, is introduced within the cord '19, so that said shoe engages the tension-spool and the friction material on the shoe produces the de sired friction on the spool, and thereby creates the tension on the warp-thread carried by the spool.

When threading a tension device, as illustrated in Fig. 11, the warp-thread is threaded through the eye in the spool and the spool is turned by hand until the desired number of turns of the warp-thread has been placed upon the spool. V

This my improved tension device for warpthreads is applicable to creels of other constructions than that shown on the drawings, and I do not wish to confine myself to its use in connection with any particular arrangement of the bobbins on the creel or construction of the creel itself.

I wish it to be understood thatI do not contine myself to the particular construction of the bobbin-drawers as shown on the drawings and described herein, as their construction may be changed within the scope of mechanical skill without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described the nature, construction, and operation of this my invention, I wish to secure by Letters Patent and claim 1. Ina warp-creel, a bobbin, a loosely-rotating tension spool upon which the bobbinthread is wound, an eye within the plane of that portion of the tension-spool upon which the bobbin-thread is wound and through which the bobbin-thread passes, and a yielding tension-producing device tending to rotate the spool in a direction opposite to the direction of the rotation of the spool when thread is drawn from the bobbin and over said spool, the eye forming a bight in the bobbin-thread and the thread on both sides of the bight therein wound in the same direction upon the spool, whereby a uniform yielding tension is applied to the thread drawn.

2. In a warp-creel, a series of bobbins, a series of loosely-rotating tension-spools one for each bobbin in the series of bobbins and upon which the bobbin-thread is wound, an eye in each spool of the series of spools said eye located within the plane of that portion of the spool upon which the bobbin-thread is wound and through which eye the bobbin-thread passes, and a series of independent yielding tension-producing devices tending to rotate each spool independent of the others and in a direction opposite to the direction of the rotation of thespool when thread is drawn from the bobbin and over that spool, the eye on the spool forming a bight in the bobbin-thread wound on that spool and the thread on both sides of the bight therein wound in the same direction upon the spool, whereby an independent tension is produced upon the thread upon each tension-spool and which tension is constantly the same when thread is drawn over the spool.

3. In a warp-creel, a series of bobbins, a series of loosely-rotating tension-spools one for each bobbin in the series of bobbins and upon which the bobbin-thread is wound, an eye in each spool of the series of spools said eye located within the plane of that portion of the spool upon which the bobbin-thread is wound and through which eye the bobbin-thread passes, a groove on each spool of the series of spools, a cord attached to each spool and wound within the groove therein, and a series of weights one attached to each cord exerting an independent influence on its attached spool tending to rotate its spool independent of the other spools in a direction opposite to the direction of the rotation of the spool when the bobbin-thread is drawn from the bobbin and over said spool, the eye on the spool forming a bight in the bobbin-thread which passes through it and the thread on both sides of the bight therein wound in the same direction upon the spool, whereby an independent tension is produced upon the thread upon each tension-spool and which tension is constantly the same when thread is drawn over the spool.

t. In a warp-creel, a support, a series of parallel rods projecting sidewise from said support, a series of bobbin-drawers on said rods movable longitudinally thereon each drawer consisting of a framework, a bobbinrack, a series of bobbins carried by said rack, a series of tension-producing devices for the threads supplied from said bobbins, and a guide for said threads, whereby each bobbindrawer may be drawn to one side on said rods, for the purpose set forth.

5. In a warp-creel, a support, parallel rods projecting sidewise from said support, a series of bobbin-drawers movable longitudinally thereon, and notches on the parallel rods to receive the framework of the bobbindrawers to hold said drawers in position on the rods, for'the purpose set forth.

6. In a warp-creel, a support, parallel rods in pairs carried by said support, combined with a longitudinally-movable bobbin-drawer mounted on each pair of projecting rods, each drawer consisting of two end frames, stayrods to couple said frames together at a distance from each other, two bobbin-racks between the end frames, a series of bobbins on each rack, a series of tension-spools on the stay-rods one spool for each bobbin on the rack to receive the thread from said bobbin, means causing each spool to produce tension on the thread carried thereby, and a guidestrip to guide the thread from the tensionspools, for the purpose set forth.

7. In a warp-creel, a support, a series of parallel rods in pairs projecting sidewise from 'said supports, a bobbin-drawer consisting in part of end frames mounted on said rods and movable longitudinally thereon, and a brace between each pair of the parallel rods near the end of said rods to retain them in their proper relative positions and to form a stop to prevent the complete withdrawal of the bobbin-drawer from said rods, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE CROSSLAND. WVitnesses:

HENRY OHADBOURN, HENRY J. BAILEY. 

